Due to his unhappy marriage, Edward Bulwer Lytton’s two children spent much of their early lives with and Irish “godmother”, a saintly spinster named Mary Letitia Greene. Mary died in Dublin in 1859 and the Lytton family’s only subsequent contact with the Greene family was in the 1880s when Mary’s great-niece visited Knebworth to give Robert, Edward’s son, Mary’s fascinating written account of his and his sister’s childhood. This is a treasured document in our archive and for over ten years I have been on the trail of Mary Letitia Greene, looking for more information about this woman who played such an important part in the lives of my great-great-grandfather and his sister.
A few weeks ago I struck gold. Tracing Mary’s family tree on the internet, I discovered a descendant of her great-niece living half-an-hour away in Northwood, Middlesex. Contact was made, and for the first time in over 120 years, I have been able to formally welcome the Greene family back to Knebworth House. Better still, I have been able to identify the woman in the lovely portrait miniature they had in their possession, not knowing who the woman was… as none other than Mary Letitia Greene. Amazing!
Henry Lytton Cobbold
www.knebworthhouse.com